Infant Mortality Rates Among the Industrialized Lower Class
Infant mortality rates within the Victorian era where moderately high, especially among the lower classes and families with mothers in the work force. On average, in London, the 1800’s had an infant mortality rate of 149 deaths per 1,000 live births (Dyhouse 248). To give context, today Canada has an average Infant mortality rate of 4.71 deaths per 1,000 live births (Country Comparison: Infant Mortality Rate). But accounts of the time imply that infant mortality rates were higher within overcrowded urban-industrial areas in London. Focusing on industrialized neighborhoods, close to textile mills, Angus Reach mentions 4,000 children are ‘lost’ in the streets of Manchester annually, implying they are dead. In the same article “’Labour and the Poor’ The Manufacturing Districts”, he later goes on to state that within seven years 13,362 children died in Manchester (Donovan and Rubery 30). Illegitimate children, working mothers, and the use of narcotics (specifically laudanum) on infants, contribute to this high infant mortality rate.
Illegitimate children were often killed at a very young age, and frequently endured violent deaths (Higginbotham 319), this contributed to infant mortality rates. This could have been intentional to conceal a women’s sin of premarital sex or accidental through neglect. Intentional infanticide was easy, since it was simple to hide the birth and death of an unwanted child in a large city such as London. “Edwin Lankester, a coroner for Central Middlesex… claimed that some 12,000 London mothers had murdered their infants without detection” (Higginbotham 319). London had higher death rates among children than other locations. London was also responsible for half of all child homicides reported in the Registrar General’s reports for England and Wales (Higginbotham 319). Challengers of the ‘New Poor Law’ in England reasoned that it would promote child murder, because unmarried parents could not get any government support (Higginbotham 320). Intentional infant deaths were partly the result of a mother trying to cover up her loss of virginity. An accidental reason for the high death rate among infants could be from the mothers trying to conceal these babies. Babies were more likely to die if the mothers delivered the babies alone and unaided (Higginbotham 322). Some babies that survived the birth died of neglect because the mothers left them unattended (for example due to factory work), and the mothers then tried to imply that they were never pregnant (Higginbotham 326). This process was so common it was known as ‘concealment of birth’ and was illegal, though the punishment was less harsh than infanticide (Higginbotham 327).
Working mothers of London partially contributed to the high infant mortality rates. Since working mothers were commonly living among the lower class that populated the industrialized London slums they were at a socio-economical disadvantage. This is clear in comparison to middle-class mothers, who accepted mother-hood as their moral duty. The working mothers had to tend to work, which meant they neglected their children more frequently. Working mothers had limited time and opportunity to breast feed and nurture their infant (Dyhouse 248). In the Victorian era mothers where often blamed for their child’s death, even when there was no strong evidence to support this notion (Higginbotham 336). Mothers were blamed for their lack of hygiene and the effect that had on their children. Even specific articles of Public Health addressed this topic (Dyhouse 257). Mothers working and living in highly industrialized and dirty neighborhoods lacked the ability to remain hygienic, this contributed to the loss of children to sickness.
Narcotics in the Victorian era, especially laudanum, were a contributing factor to the death of many newborns in industrialized London areas. Laudanum, which is a soluble form of opium, suppresses the central nervous system (Heydar, Hashempur and Zargaran 102). A desired side effect of this opium is drowsiness, referred to as the “Hypnotic Effect” (Heydar, Hashempur and Zargaran 105). For this reason laudanum was used to put babies to sleep. Frequently parents used laudanum for medical purpose or a cheap alternative to spirits and then gave doses to their babies. Laudanum that was used on infants had many names, such as Godfrey’s Cordial, Mothers Friend and Baby’s Mixture (T.E.C. 1011 & Donovan and Rubery 29). Even as early as the start of the 1800’s opium poisoning was the result of many deaths (T.E.C. 1011). Mothers who worked frequently hired nurses who fed their children laudanum without their knowledge. This was in order to keep the children quite so the nurse did not have to bother with caring for them. The use of laudanum by nurses in combination with the use of ignorant parents resulted in the death of some infants. Overdose of laudanum was so common amongst babies because it was unregulated. Laudanum was an over-the-counter drug that was “almost always [used] without a physician’s advice” (T.E.C. 1011). Laudanum would be given to parents to give to children with no prescription to treat many symptoms (T.E.C. 86). Because laudanum was unregulated it is difficult to know how much a child was receiving regularly and how much was a lethal dose. It is very possible that nurses gave babies a safe dose of laudanum and then their unaware parents gave them another dose, resulting in an overdose.[1] Children’s developing tolerance to opium meant that stronger doses were required to reach the desired affect, therefore an affective dose could result in death.
The combination of illegitimate children working mothers, and narcotics, accounts for the high infant mortality rate in London during the Victorian era. Since these three factors are most common among lower class urban households, there is a strong correlation between high infant mortality rates and the lower classes. Angus Reach examines the connection between infanticide and working class from an objective investigative perspective in his article “‘Labour and the Poor’: The Manufacturing Districts” (Donovan and Rubery 27-37). This piece informed the Victorian audience leading them to inquire if these women are inadequate mothers or if infanticide is a by-product of an industrialized society? BLK/Engl387/UVic/Fall2014 Works Cited “Country Comparison: Infant Mortality Rate.” The World Factbook. CIA.com Web. 29 Sept. 2014 Donovan, Stephen, and Matthew Rubery, eds. Secret Commissions: An Anthology of Victorian Investigative Journalism. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2012. E-Book. Dyhouse, Carol. “Working-Class Mothers and Infant Mortality in England, 1895 1914.” Journal of Social History. 12.2 (1978): 248-67. JStore. Web. 25 Sept. 2014 Heydari, Mojitaba, Hashempur Mohammad Hashem, and Arman Zargaran. “Medicinal Aspects of Opium As Described In Avicenna’s Canon Of Medicine.” Acta Medico-Hisorica Adriatica 11.1 (2013): 101-112. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2014 Higginbotham, Ann R. “‘Sin of the Age’: Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian London.” Victorian Studies 32.3 (1989): 319-37. JStore. Web. 25 Sept. 2014 T.E.C., Jr. “Overdosing With Opium, A Serious Pediatric Problem In England A Century And A Half Ago.” Pediatrics 68.1 (1981): 86. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2014 T.E.C., Jr. “What Were Godfrey’s Cordial and Dalby’s Carminative?.” Pediatrics 45.6 (1970): 1011. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.
[1]Seven grams is now known as the lethal dose for opium (Heydar, Hashempur and Zargaran 108).
Infant Mortality Rates Among the Industrialized Lower Class
Infant mortality rates within the Victorian era where moderately high, especially among the lower classes and families with mothers in the work force. On average, in London, the 1800’s had an infant mortality rate of 149 deaths per 1,000 live births (Dyhouse 248). To give context, today Canada has an average Infant mortality rate of 4.71 deaths per 1,000 live births (Country Comparison: Infant Mortality Rate). But accounts of the time imply that infant mortality rates were higher within overcrowded urban-industrial areas in London. Focusing on industrialized neighborhoods, close to textile mills, Angus Reach mentions 4,000 children are ‘lost’ in the streets of Manchester annually, implying they are dead. In the same article “’Labour and the Poor’ The Manufacturing Districts”, he later goes on to state that within seven years 13,362 children died in Manchester (Donovan and Rubery 30). Illegitimate children, working mothers, and the use of narcotics (specifically laudanum) on infants, contribute to this high infant mortality rate.
Illegitimate children were often killed at a very young age, and frequently endured violent deaths (Higginbotham 319), this contributed to infant mortality rates. This could have been intentional to conceal a women’s sin of premarital sex or accidental through neglect. Intentional infanticide was easy, since it was simple to hide the birth and death of an unwanted child in a large city such as London. “Edwin Lankester, a coroner for Central Middlesex… claimed that some 12,000 London mothers had murdered their infants without detection” (Higginbotham 319). London had higher death rates among children than other locations. London was also responsible for half of all child homicides reported in the Registrar General’s reports for England and Wales (Higginbotham 319). Challengers of the ‘New Poor Law’ in England reasoned that it would promote child murder, because unmarried parents could not get any government support (Higginbotham 320). Intentional infant deaths were partly the result of a mother trying to cover up her loss of virginity. An accidental reason for the high death rate among infants could be from the mothers trying to conceal these babies. Babies were more likely to die if the mothers delivered the babies alone and unaided (Higginbotham 322). Some babies that survived the birth died of neglect because the mothers left them unattended (for example due to factory work), and the mothers then tried to imply that they were never pregnant (Higginbotham 326). This process was so common it was known as ‘concealment of birth’ and was illegal, though the punishment was less harsh than infanticide (Higginbotham 327).
Working mothers of London partially contributed to the high infant mortality rates. Since working mothers were commonly living among the lower class that populated the industrialized London slums they were at a socio-economical disadvantage. This is clear in comparison to middle-class mothers, who accepted mother-hood as their moral duty. The working mothers had to tend to work, which meant they neglected their children more frequently. Working mothers had limited time and opportunity to breast feed and nurture their infant (Dyhouse 248). In the Victorian era mothers where often blamed for their child’s death, even when there was no strong evidence to support this notion (Higginbotham 336). Mothers were blamed for their lack of hygiene and the effect that had on their children. Even specific articles of Public Health addressed this topic (Dyhouse 257). Mothers working and living in highly industrialized and dirty neighborhoods lacked the ability to remain hygienic, this contributed to the loss of children to sickness.
Narcotics in the Victorian era, especially laudanum, were a contributing factor to the death of many newborns in industrialized London areas. Laudanum, which is a soluble form of opium, suppresses the central nervous system (Heydar, Hashempur and Zargaran 102). A desired side effect of this opium is drowsiness, referred to as the “Hypnotic Effect” (Heydar, Hashempur and Zargaran 105). For this reason laudanum was used to put babies to sleep. Frequently parents used laudanum for medical purpose or a cheap alternative to spirits and then gave doses to their babies. Laudanum that was used on infants had many names, such as Godfrey’s Cordial, Mothers Friend and Baby’s Mixture (T.E.C. 1011 & Donovan and Rubery 29). Even as early as the start of the 1800’s opium poisoning was the result of many deaths (T.E.C. 1011). Mothers who worked frequently hired nurses who fed their children laudanum without their knowledge. This was in order to keep the children quite so the nurse did not have to bother with caring for them. The use of laudanum by nurses in combination with the use of ignorant parents resulted in the death of some infants. Overdose of laudanum was so common amongst babies because it was unregulated. Laudanum was an over-the-counter drug that was “almost always [used] without a physician’s advice” (T.E.C. 1011). Laudanum would be given to parents to give to children with no prescription to treat many symptoms (T.E.C. 86). Because laudanum was unregulated it is difficult to know how much a child was receiving regularly and how much was a lethal dose. It is very possible that nurses gave babies a safe dose of laudanum and then their unaware parents gave them another dose, resulting in an overdose.[1] Children’s developing tolerance to opium meant that stronger doses were required to reach the desired affect, therefore an affective dose could result in death.
The combination of illegitimate children working mothers, and narcotics, accounts for the high infant mortality rate in London during the Victorian era. Since these three factors are most common among lower class urban households, there is a strong correlation between high infant mortality rates and the lower classes. Angus Reach examines the connection between infanticide and working class from an objective investigative perspective in his article “‘Labour and the Poor’: The Manufacturing Districts” (Donovan and Rubery 27-37). This piece informed the Victorian audience leading them to inquire if these women are inadequate mothers or if infanticide is a by-product of an industrialized society?
BLK/Engl387/UVic/Fall2014
Works Cited
“Country Comparison: Infant Mortality Rate.” The World Factbook. CIA.com Web. 29 Sept. 2014
Donovan, Stephen, and Matthew Rubery, eds. Secret Commissions: An Anthology of Victorian Investigative Journalism. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2012. E-Book.
Dyhouse, Carol. “Working-Class Mothers and Infant Mortality in England, 1895 1914.” Journal of Social History. 12.2 (1978): 248-67. JStore. Web. 25 Sept. 2014
Heydari, Mojitaba, Hashempur Mohammad Hashem, and Arman Zargaran. “Medicinal Aspects of Opium As Described In Avicenna’s Canon Of Medicine.” Acta Medico-Hisorica Adriatica 11.1 (2013): 101-112. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2014
Higginbotham, Ann R. “‘Sin of the Age’: Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian London.” Victorian Studies 32.3 (1989): 319-37. JStore. Web. 25 Sept. 2014
T.E.C., Jr. “Overdosing With Opium, A Serious Pediatric Problem In England A Century And A Half Ago.” Pediatrics 68.1 (1981): 86. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2014
T.E.C., Jr. “What Were Godfrey’s Cordial and Dalby’s Carminative?.” Pediatrics 45.6 (1970): 1011. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.
[1]Seven grams is now known as the lethal dose for opium (Heydar, Hashempur and Zargaran 108).